This Much I Know is True
by Secret-Agent-Omega
Summary: Several weeks after the BDM, Inara finally comes to a decision.


**Title:** This Much I Know is True

**Author:** Secret-Agent-Omega

**Genre:** Drama.

**Rating:** K.

**Pairings:** Mal/Inara.

**Location on Firefly Universe Timeline:** Several weeks post-BDM.

**Spoilers:** A few references to the BDM, but nothing terribly revealing.

**Summary:** Several weeks after the BDM, Inara finally comes to a decision.

**Disclaimer:** The people, places, and plentiful paraphernalia you know and love/hate are the property of their respective owners, namely Joss Whedon, his associates, and any groups which control or are controlled by said individuals. No profit is made by the author of this work of fiction from the creation or distribution of said work, nor is any infringement intended. Plagiarism is considered a serious criminal offense, and punishable by law. Please ask before redistributing this work.

**Length without header:** 2 page(s) at 12-point Times New Roman font; 415 words; 2,163 characters including spaces.

**Feedback:** Some authors don't care about feedback. I am not one of those authors. Giving feedback tells me that you took the time to read it and cared enough to comment on it. Receiving feedback is a wonderful thing, and every author should experience it.

**Notes:** This story hits a little closer to home than most of my others, because it was inspired by a lady I know, and my feelings for her which I can't find the courage to properly express. In all likelihood, she'll never read this, and in truth, that's probably for the best.

**This Much I Know is True**

By Secret-Agent-Omega

"_The woods are lovely, dark and deep,  
But I have promises to keep,  
And miles to go before I sleep,  
And miles to go before I sleep."_

_- Final stanza, "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening", by Robert Frost_

She finds the envelope on her pillow.

She's been sleeping in the passenger quarters in the weeks since Miranda – partly because she can't bear to ask him to return to the Training House for her things, and partly because she can't bear the thought of sleeping so far from her family.

Because it _is_ her family.

She can't deny that truth now, nor can she escape the changes it brings. She was willing to fight alongside them, ready to die alongside them, and things are different now.

_She_ is different now.

She could never go back to her old life, knowing what she does. She has ventured too far, past the point of no return, and must continue onward in the hope that a new life awaits somewhere beyond her sight.

For she has ventured far, and yet not far enough.

She has still given him no answer to his questions; either the asked, or the unasked. She knows both their lives will be altered forever by her decisions, and yet a verdict still eludes her, for she has questions of her own.

She cannot give until she receives.

She holds the envelope in her hands, reading her own name in an elegant script. She has never seen it before, and yet she knows it to be his; only he would be so old-fashioned as to write her something by hand.

Her hands tremble as the opens the envelope.

Inside is a single sheet of yellow parchment, neatly folded into thirds. The lamplight through the sheet lends the ink a reddish tinge, as though the letters were written in blood.

_There isn't much that I know for certain, but this much I know is true:_

_I know that against all odds, you make me feel alive._

_I know that I would do anything to keep you safe._

_I know that I don't want to live without you ever again._

_But I don't know if any of that matters._

_I don't know if you feel the same way._

_And until I know that, knowing the rest just isn't enough._

She reads the words, and hears his questions once more; both the asked, and the unasked.

_Ready to get off this heap, back to civilized life?_

_Is there any hope for us?_

In the dim light of her makeshift quarters, she smiles and makes her way to the door.

Inara has received her answers; now she will give Mal his.

_I'm staying here._

_There is always hope._


End file.
